Last issue the G.I. Joe team stopped Cobra from rescuing the captured Destro… but at what cost? In the closing pages, General Hawk was shot in the back by Cobra Commander, who in turn was shot by the treacherous Baroness.

This issue, Hawk wakes up from his coma to find that things have been very different in his absence. Jerwa walks us through how the team has been cleaning things up while he healed, and how he prepares for a world where G.I. Joe is not needed… but something is haunting him.

I knew where this story was going by the third page. By page 15 I was certain, and I was just marking time waiting for Brandon Jerwa to pull the big last-page switcheroo I knew was coming. Well, he pulled it all right, but the switch was not what I was expecting at all – it was something that took me totally by surprise, and that’s about the highest praise I can give. Plus, it’s about all I can say without spoiling a great ending.

The “Fathom” storyline by Jerwa and Talent Caldwell comes to its conclusion this issue as well and, frankly, it was a little disappointing. This last chapter, just four short pages, is a quick attempt to give the character an origin, establish his place in the G.I. Joe universe and show how tough he is before Caldwell finishes up.

Tim Seeley does a nice job on the artwork on the main story, including some particularly creepy sequences that work very well and tie in beautifully with Cover A, by Tommy Castillo. It evokes the feel of an old EC horror comic, and while that may seem an odd choice for G.I. Joe, it works wonderfully.

This was an excellent issue, an incredible epilogue to the “Players and Pawns” storyline that sets up the new status quo for the series in a big way. The solicitations for issue #34 say “everything changes” – and it’s not hard to believe. Not hard at all.